Court rules for Arizona redistricting commission

An appellate court has ruled that Arizona's redistricting commission generally
must follow the state's open meeting law but that prosecutors cannot resume an
investigation into whether the commission violated the law when it hired mapping
consultants.

A Court of Appeals panel's ruling is the latest chapter in a series of
still-broiling legal fights over the commission's politically contentious work
of drawing new congressional and legislative districts.

Along with saying the commission is generally subject to the open meeting law,
the panel's ruling says the commission's internal communications concerning the
hiring of a mapping consultant are not legally shielded.

But the decision also said there's no reasonable cause to justify conducting an
investigation.

The open law meeting generally requires that bodies do their work in the open.